McAuley was only ever going to play the first part of the season at home club Temora before he moved to Cairns to link with Centrals Trinity Beach.

But the accomplished hard nut has played in four of Temora's first six games, creating a big impression in his first year back in the Farrer League since 2018.

McAuley has travelled up to play one game with Centrals Trinity Beach, featuring in their best, and Temora expect to be without him come the June 30 clearance deadline.

That means he will line-up against Northern Jets on Saturday and Marrar the following week, with a third appearance against East Wagga-Kooringal on June 25 a possibility.

"He's still going. We reckon he'll play to the bye then I reckon he'll move up," Temora coach Russell Humphrey said.

"Whether he wants to keep playing until then I don't know.

"The good part we can utilise as a footy club is we beat The Rock without him. As good as he is, we beat The Rock without him. And that's massive for the footy club."

Temora lose both Rob Grant and Colby Poole to concussion for Saturday's clash against the Jets, while Sam Jensen remains sidelined with the same problem.

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He's been out for a couple of weeks after copping a bad knock in the loss to Charles Sturt University.

After back-to-back losses to CSU and then Barellan, Humphrey knows the importance of a win against the fifth-placed Jets.

"We just need to get back on the winner's list to be honest," he said.

"Ideally from the last three rounds, last week, this week and Marrar, we wanted to be two (wins) and one (loss) of those three. So we definitely need to win this week. But who knows what Jets team is going to turn up.

"We're looking forward to the local derby. They told me about that from day one. I haven't seen (the Jets) yet. They've been competitive but you can say that about everyone really."

Depsite consecutive defeats, Temora still find themselves in fourth spot on a congested Farrer League ladder.

Humphrey is fully aware of what a win in a tight three-point loss to Barellan last weekend could have done but is confident the Kangaroos will get better as the year goes on.

"As I've said and I'll say it right through, we're changing the way we play, we're still a work in progress, we've had lapses and we're going to have lapses and that doesn't help us," he said.

"Had we won on the weekend, we would have been a game in front of (the Jets) and two points in front of Barellan...but for us to play a side in the top five and to only go down by four points is pretty important to us.

"It's almost at the stage, and we will be after the break, where almost every game will be an eight-point game."

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